William Shakespeare's play 'The Merchant of Venice' is a timeless play, and like many of his other works, it features many themes. The play is an intricate tapestry of rich themes, which underpin the main plots and characters in of the story. 'The Merchant of Venice' is woven together by these essential themes, and they are all illustrated and developed in different ways.
The major themes in this play centre around love, money, loans, prejudice, Father daughter relationships and friendship, and are all intertwined throughout the play.
To capture the full extent of the way Shakespeare has intertwined his themes, it is best to start from the first scene and work through the first act. Act 1, Scene one shows Bassanio running out of money, just as he wishes to become a suitor for his love interest Portia. So Bassanio can reach his destination, his friend Antonio receives a loan from the Jewish moneylender Shylock. .
In this incident you see the themes of love and money being molded together. If Bassanio had not fallen in love with Portia, there would be no need for Antonio to receive a bond with Shylock, and if Antonio's friendship with Bassanio were non-existent there would be no loan, and no money therefore, no Portia.
So already it has become evident that love, money, loans and friendship are linked. It has also become clear that in this play money dominates over love and emotions.
Shylock the moneylender is a Jew who is fiercely patriotic, and while he encounters continued persecution he feels very venerable in a Christian dominated world. He supplies the bond for Antonio, and brings to the fore the prejudice and racial issues in the play. .
These issues are clearly evident completely throughout the play, but are most profound in the courtroom scene, and when Shylock loses his daughter Jessica to the Christian Lorenzo. Shylock has been persecuted his entire life mostly by Christians, so when he loses his daughter to Lorenzo, a Christian, his relationship with Jessica shatters, as she has betrayed him and his religion.
